The Therapist
by Charlie Grayson
Summary: The Outlaws are working a case, one that has a certain suspect. They go to investigate, but they decided to try to remain covert for this one. Just a one shot inspired by C2ii's piece on deviantART called 'The Therapist'


_The sun was shining bright on the trio as they walked towards a large office building. The top wasn't visible from the ground, and the windows reflected the heavens. It was hard to believe the man they needed was behind just one of the many hundreds of windows. _

"_Why are we here?" Jason says curtly. His irritation with the thought of seeing him is obvious, but for unexplained reasons. One can guess pretty easily. Dying and coming back to life is not something one can easily explain to someone who can spot a liar in a crowd of people, one who has been trained to do almost just that. Inner demons were not something Jason liked to face. _

_Which both Roy and Kori understood. _

_Roy sighed. Jason was usually the one explaining things. "We have to for the mission." He glanced up at the scary looking building, not too excited for this meeting himself. "You know that." _

_Kori, confident as ever, strode towards the glass doors. She looked uncomfortable in her civilian clothes. The white blouse and black skirt appeared too professional. She had even tried to tame her flaming locks in a high ponytail. Though her efforts almost went by unnoticed as her hair still went past her bottom, it still flamed and floated and went about of its own accord. There was nothing that could keep her hair together, and it was beautiful. _

"_Yeah, well I don't like it." He said. "I still think we could sneak in after hours and just check it out." _

_The glass doors swung open and all three hesitated before entering. Once you were in there was no going back. _

_Kori was the first to enter. She walked forward just daring someone to challenge her appearance. Though it was obvious she was not of this world, she could wear a human's clothes better than most. _

_Roy grabbed Jason's forearm, pulling him in behind him. "It'll be fine." He muttered. Though, to himself or to Jason, he wasn't sure. _

_*************************************LINE BREAKER!*******************************_

"_What are you doing with your future?"_

Roy had been to a therapist before. He had seen all the doctors Ollie could afford and he had talked his heart out, only saying what he was told and scraping by with a mentally stable bill of health.

Roy had told the press all his personal secrets. He had put on a fake smile and said the memorized words like a robot. They sounded genuinely fake, which was good enough for the press. Though inside they were backed with doubts and his true intentions, he said the recorded message that he had said to Ollie so many times. The message that he thought would earn him his mentor's approval, but had failed.

What did Roy want from his future?

He wanted to not be like this. He wanted to get out of bed and not want to die in battle. But he also wanted to stay with his friends. The ones who were outside, in the waiting area, just waiting for Roy to come out safe and sound.

"I am going to quit drinking so much," Roy said, pulling on that genuine fakeness from all those years ago. "And I'm going to travel. I'm going to settle down and have kids, and get back into good graces with Oliver. And I want my kids to know the man who raised their father. Then I'm going to die happy."

His words held no truth. Not even a little bit.

The therapist's pen scribbled across his page.

The man glanced back up at Roy over his glasses. Roy smiled and fiddled with his ball cap in his lap. "That all sounds very nice, Roy. But how about the truth?"

_*************************************LINE BREAKER!*******************************_

"_What are you doing with your future?"_

The chair was comfortable, though Kori would rather be flying. Kori would rather be anywhere, to be honest. The room was open. There was a desk in front of her pressed up against a wall. The walls were dark and wooden, and several potted plants were around the room. Their aromas filled the atmosphere with calming scents and good feelings. But none of that made Kori feel any better. Not even the sound of water from the small fountain that sat at the front of the desk in front of the name plate.

_Dr. Thomas Brack_

Kori had never been to a therapist, though she had answered a question similar to this one before. Several times.

Whenever the press grew curious of what would happen _after_ the Teen Titans. Whenever someone older than her (and supposedly _wiser_) questioned how she chose to spend her youth. Whenever the people of Earth wanted her to leave.

When Dick Grayson had said to her his final farewell.

And she would answer now the same as she had answered to them.

"The people of my planet tend to live in the moment. We believe it is a happier place to live." She said dominantly. "One should make the most of what they have now and not focus on the past or the future."

Dr. Brack glanced at her. Then his hazel gaze shifted back to the paper where his hand was furiously writing. Kori didn't like his eyes. She didn't know many people whom she enjoyed that had such dark eyes, and he was certainly not one of them. "Here on Earth we call that being unprepared." He said.

She narrowed her eyes at him. Kori had not come here to be questioned or evaluated. She came for the good of the mission. "I do not have to be prepared as easily as you humans." The princess stated through grinding teeth. "Tamaranians do not age as swiftly as you. I have several more years to 'prepare', as you say." **(1)**

The doctor humphed, whether in defeat or interest Kori didn't know.

"And what do you plan to prepare, princess?"

_*************************************LINE BREAKER!*******************************_

"_What are you doing with your future?"_

The future was a strange concept. One Jason Todd had never been able to grasp.

As a street rat, he'd never had to. He had to figure out how to survive _now._ He never quite had the time to sit down and think about retirement. That was never a priority. How could he eat tonight? How could he fight off the muggers? How could he get away with stealing? How could he make some extra cash to _fill_ his stomach? How could he keep an eye on his mom while doing all this? _How could he survive?_

As Robin he'd never had to. He lived his life by the concept, _If I do as good as Dick, I can be Robin forever._ That was his plan for the future. He wanted to be with Bruce. He wanted to be with his family and do the things that made him happy. Though as the years went by and he and Bruce grew further and further apart, he realized he could never be as good as Dick. He couldn't be Robin forever. He didn't, and he wasn't.

Jason had his elbows on his knees and his head bowed. He didn't want to look at the therapist. He didn't want this trained man to see that Jason simply _couldn't_ answer this question. He was just waiting for the day when a bullet would sneak by his armor or someone wouldn't be fast enough to save him again.

Jason Todd didn't believe he had a future.

_*************************************LINE BREAKER!*******************************_

"What makes you think that's not the truth?" Roy asked. His voice was smooth and concerned. He honestly didn't understand. His armor was solid, how had the therapist seen through it?

The man behind the desk laughed. "I'm trained to see a lie, Roy. You're paying me to tell you when you lie to me." He said with a smile. A real looking smile. But everything was about looking real, wasn't it?

"I am paying you to tell me that I'm not crazy yet." Roy corrected, smiling back.

The doctor laughed again, leaning over his paper and intertwining his fingers. His glasses sat low on his nose and the sunlight from the large window reflected on his bald head. "Roy you're paying me to find out if you're crazy or not. That's what I'm doing." He said. "So are you lying to me or yourself Roy?"

At this point, Roy didn't know.

_*************************************LINE BREAKER!*******************************_

Kori was upset. She didn't want to think about her future. She was happy with her life now. She was happy being with Roy, and happy with Jason being her best friend. She was happy saving lives and stopping the crime from hurting the innocent. Why did that ever have to stop?

Why do humans believe everything has to stop?

"I do not have plans for the future." She said shortly. The therapist _should've _sensed her anger, but he appeared oblivious. Perhaps he wasn't a real therapist after all. Or perhaps he just thought he was getting deeper into Kori…

"Well, why are you here?" he asked.

_Don't blow your cover, no matter what he says._ Jason's orders were specific. Kori couldn't tell him her true intentions.

"I was told I had experienced something traumatic and I should highly consider it." She lied. "Though, I'm beginning to regret my decision as you have not only mocked me, but the way of my people since I walked through your door."

_*************************************LINE BREAKER!*******************************_

"Justin?" **(2)**the doctor asked. The five minutes of staring at the top of Jason's head had probably grown tiresome.

Jason, without looking up, corrected the man. "Jay." He said to the floor. "I go by Jay."

"Alright, Jay," the therapist said. "What _are_ your plans for the future?"

As Red Hood, Jason didn't look into his future often. It was a fairyland place to him, somewhere he'd never reach and chose not to dream of. Why dampen his spirits of what he had now with unrealistic dreams about the future? But, Jason wasn't really one to talk about being unrealistic. He could never dream of his future if his nightmares were still haunted by his past.

Jason suddenly looked up. His oceanic eyes pierced through the air and stabbed right into Dr. Brack's demeanor. His dark and silver hair fell in front of his eyes just barely, lowering the intensity of his brightly colored eyes.

"Doctor," Jason said. "I don't _have_ a future."

And then 'Justin' simply got up and left.

_*************************************LINE BREAKER!*******************************_

"I haven't been _trying_ to disrespect you, I apologize." He said. Kori humphed at these words. It sounded genuine, but she knew how 'genuine' it really was. She was long past the point of looking for the good in people. This man may have had some good in him, but it was over powered by the bad.

Not necessarily evil though. His mistreatment of Kori did not make him the villain they were hunting, and she knew that.

He was not _good_ because he did not help people out of the goodness of his heart. He did it for the money they paid him. He did not really care for the people, or care if he offended them or helped them. He cared for the money they spent while he listened to them whine.

And in Kori's opinion, he was not good. She did not have to sit here and listen to him.

"You are not sorry." She said, her voice loud and powerful. Her body oozed dominance and Dr. Brack picked up on it. When she left, he did not try to stop her.

_*************************************LINE BREAKER!*******************************_

Roy thought. He knew he had been lying when he said he wanted to settle down, but in all honesty, that sounded nice. No more hero business, no more drama with Ollie. He and Kori could settle down and have a nice life together after the heroing.

"I wasn't lying." He decided. "That's what I want. I want to marry my girlfriend, and I want to settle down and watch TV with my best friend." He was being real this time. Really real. Not an ounce of fakeness about it.

He wanted to marry Kori. He wanted a normal life, and he wanted Jason to be a part of it too. He wanted to watch football on Sundays with Jason and scream when the opposing team scored or maybe watch wrestling and point out all the places they could improve their moves. And every now and then the two of them would start fighting, and then Kori would pick them up to try and break it up. And then they'd all laugh, and maybe Jason would still be with Isabelle and she could be there too. They'd all have dinner every Sunday, and then Jason and Isabelle would go home until next Sunday.

The therapist leaned back. "I see." He said simply. "Roy, I am working on your dollar." He said. Roy sighed.

"Save it." He said as he stood up. "I didn't come here to be called a liar."

_*************************************LINE BREAKER!*******************************_

**So, I wrote a thing. **

**It's inspired by a comic on deviantART called ****The Therapist****by **_**C2ii**_

**Which can be found here (remove the spaces) browse. deviantart art/The- Therapist-291115659**

**It was just awesome and beautiful and I felt suddenly inspired to write this one-shot. Also, this is not proof read because it's two in the morning and I don't really want to proof read right now. So if it's just horrible than please excuse any typos. Also, I think I got Jason's character more pre-reboot but that's just my opinion. Because the All Caste is all about communing with your past and such. **

**1 – I don't actually know if that's a fact about the Tamaranians aging slower. I just kind of made it up. Personally I think it would make more sense but whatever. **

**2 – Jason would've told the doctor that his name was not Jason Todd. Because Jason Todd is actually dead. That happened. Yeah. **

**Please review!**

_**~Charlie~**_


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